The Speech, Part I

Being in the press box has its downsides. There's AC and good light and ergonomic chairs and plenty of power and T1 lines -- all good things. But there's also a thick layer of glass between us and the rest of the stadium dampening the noise and energy of the crowd -- as though we're watching it all through water.

Right now, Obama has appeared -- and for the first time, the crowd is coming straight through the glass. I reach for LM's hand, and squeeze hard. (And pinch him, for all of you. It turns out he kinda likes that.) The stadium is full, and the Rocky Mountain Thunder of Mile-High Stadium rocks the walls around us. Below us, the bowl of the stadium glitters with flashes, and all of a sudden that colonnaded backdrop looks amazingly like the windows just outside the Oval Office.

A thousand thank yous. To the crowd, to Hillary and Biden and Michelle.

A reiteration of the point that the Democrats are the party of working people. Reclaiming this status, which was abandoned during the early 70s, is quite evidently one of the major themes of this week, and this coming campaign.

We are a better country than this.

I'm reading ahead now. There's plenty here that we need to hear, that we've all been waiting to hear for a very, very long time. I didn't dare imagine it was going to be THIS good.

"A 10% chance on change." Wait for it.